Apparatus fob



w. s. QUlGLEY.

APPARATUS FOR FEEDING REGULATED QUANTITIES 0F FINELY DIVIDED MATERIAL.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 12. 1914.

Lwwm, I PatentedAug. 1,1916.

WIRT S. QUIGLEY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO QUIGLEY FURNACE AND FOUNDRY 00., A CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

APPARATUS FOR FEEDING REGULATED QUANTITIES OF FINELY-DIVIDED MATERIAL.

LTQSMM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. ll, 119th.

Application filed June 12, 1914. Serial No. 844,832.

hattan, county and State of New York, have v invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Feeding Regulated Quantities of F inely-Divided Material, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to apparatus for feeding finely divided fuel to a combustion chamber and comprises convenient means for accurately controlling the amount of fuel fed without interfering with the perfect operation of the apparatus as a whole.

My improved apparatus may be conveniently used in connection with the form of controlling apparatus shown in U. S. Letters Patent No. 784,307 granted to J. V. Culliney, March 7, 1905, but it may also be employed with other apparatus.

With the construction shown in the Culliney patent as employed to handle pulverized fuel, the finely powdered coal in surplus quantity is dropped through an air conduit chamber having transversely alined air inlet and outlet conduits. A current of air driven through these conduits carries out with it, and to the combustion chamber, the

desired portion of the pulverized fuel cone stantly falling through the conduit. The amount of fuel dropped through the air conduit per unit of time may be varied for economys sake so as to avoid handling an unnecessarily large surplus but a rate of fuel flow into the air conduit in excess of the required rate of feed to the combustion chamber is always maintained, and the real control of the quantity of fuel fed to the combustion chamber is secured through varying the compressed air supply to the transversely arranged air inlet conduit. This ,air supply is furnished by a constant pressure blower, but if the supply to the air conduit chamber is controlled by a valve in the connections, or other ordinary regulating means, the cross sectional area of the rest of the air inlet conduit remaining constant, difliculty is encountered when the supply of air is cut down below a certain limit. The reduction in volume of air passing through the air conduit chamber in a given time produces a corresponding reduction in velocity of the stream and consequently in its power of carrying the solid particles of fuel,

and some of these are deposited in the outlet conduit, soon clogging it up. My invention overcomes this difficulty by varying the amount of fuel picked up by the air current without varying substantially the velocity or volume of compressed air passing through the controller. I accomplish this by adjusting the air inlet nozzle, or the air outlet pipe, longitudinally toward or away from each other, thus varying the zone of fuel supply without changing the volume or pressure of the compressed air supply.

The best form of apparatus at present known to me is shown in the accompanying sheet of drawings in which- Figurel is a side view of the controller with parts broken away and others shown in section; Fig. 2, is an enlarged cross section on line 22 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a detall cross section on line 33 of Fig. 2 look ing in the direction of the'arrows, and Fig. 4 is a detail horizontal section on line 44 of Fig. 2'.

Throughout the drawings like reference characters indicate like parts.

1, represents the controller generally, which in construction conforms quite closely to that illustrated in Patent No. 784,307, above referred to, having a hopper 6, in which the pulverized fuel is placed, the horizontal conveyer screw 7, which carries a regulated portion of said fuel along to the upper end of the vertically arranged fuel conduit" chamber 8, and down through which it drops,'th'e surplus being returned by the return screw 9, to be fed over again to the fuel conduit chamber. On either side of the vertically arranged fuel conduit chamber 8, are the air conduits 2, and 4,

these being alined horizontally and at right angles to the fuel conduit chamber.

2, is the outlet air discharge conduit leading to the combustion chamber (not shown) and 4, is the inlet conduit. The conveyer screws 7, and 9, are connected by gearing When the supply of air is kept down, how-' ever, the velocity of discharge into the fuel conduit chamber 8, is correspondingly reduced, and while the quantity of pulverized fuel driven in to the outlet conduit 2, is

properly regulated, the speed of movement therein is reduced so that a proportion of this fuel deposits in the conduit and chokes up the apparatus.

In my improved apparatus the inlet conduit l, is screwed into an internally threaded boss on housing 3, which is clamped to the fuel conduit wall by bolts 5, 5, or equivalent means. This housing holds nut 26, against the fuel conduit wall in line with the perforation therein.

13, is an externally threaded pipe section of less diameter than conduit 4, which is mounted in nut 26, and forms a nozzle for the inlet conduit. This pipe section 13, has a longitudinally extending groove 14, with which set screw 15, in housing 3, engages. This prevents pipe section 13, from turning while permitting it to move in and out. The housing is cut away at the sides (see Figs. 3 and 4) to afford access to nut 26, so that it can be'rotated, as by inserting a spanner in the .holes 16, 16. The outlet conduit 2, may also be externally threaded so that it can be moved inwardly or outwardly. This conduit has a mouth or opening larger than that of the nozzle or pipe section 13.

In operation an excess of pulverized fuel is always falling through fuel conduit 8, as indicated by the stippling. By moving the inlet nozzle in or out by turning .nut 26, the zone of supply from which the air jet draws will be increased Or diminished without varying the constant volume and velocity of the air current. In this manner the amount of fuel blown out can be accurately adjusted.

The same result may be obtained by screwing the outlet conduit 2, inwardly or outwardly. Where the extreme limits of adjustment are to be reached, both the inlet nozzle and the outlet conduit may be moved in or out. In this way the rate of feeding may be varied from the maximum capacity of the screw conveyor 7, down almost to zero, and yet, as the volume and velocity of the compressed air jet is subject only to the slight variation produced by different degrees of friction or work done as an injector, resulting from the changes of nozzle position, the fuel will be carried through the outlet conduit to the furnace, whether it be great or small in quantity, when once the pressure of the compressed air supply has een properly adjusted to give the best results with a given apparatus.

Other mechanism for varying the relative positions of nozzle and outlet conduit could e substituted for the valve shown.

Various means for connecting the air inlet conduit 4, to the wall of the fuel conduit chamber 8, may be employed, but I prefer to thread the end of the conduit and screw the internally threaded boss 17, of the housing 3, on to the end of said conduit as shown in the drawings.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. In an apparatus for feeding regulated quantities of finely divided material, the combination of a vertically arranged conduit, means for feeding an excess supply of the finely divided material to the upper end of said conduit so that said material may drop through the conduit, an air inlet pipe passing through one side wall of the fuel conduit having a longitudinally adjustable nozzle, an oppositely disposed outlet pipe passing through the other wall, and means independent of the air pipes for removing any material which drops below the level of said air pipes.

2. In an apparatus for feeding regulated quantities of finely divided material, the combination of a vertically arranged conduit, means for feeding an excess supply of the finely divided material to the upper end of said conduit so that said material may drop through the conduit, an air inlet pipe passing through one side wall of the fuel conduit having a longitudinally adjustable nozzle, an oppositely disposed outlet pipe passing through the other wall, the mouth of the outlet pipe being of larger diameter than'the nozzle of the inlet pipe, and means independent of the air pipes for removing any material which drops below the level of said air pipes.

3. In an apparatus for feeding regulated quantities of finely dividedmaterial, the combination of a vertically arranged conduit, means for dropping a continuous stream of finely divided material through said conduit, an air inlet pipe projecting through one side wall of the conduit, an outlet pipe pro ecting through the opposite wall of the conduit, means for varying the distance between the ends of said pipes, and apparatus independent of the air pipes for removing any finely divided materlal which may fall below the level of the air pipes, said means for varying the distance between the ends of the two pipes comprising an externally threaded section on the above mentioned adjustable nozzle, a nut mounted thereon, devices for holding the nut in a position adjacent to the conduit wall, and a mounting for the nozzle which prevents its rotation but permits endwise sliding thereof.

4. In an apparatus for feeding regulated quantities of finely divided material, the

combination of a vertically arranged condistance between the ends of said pipe, and.

apparatus independent of thev air pi es for removing any finely divided materia which may fall below the level of the air pipes, said means for varying the distance between the ends of the two pipes comprising an externally threaded section on the above mentioned adjustable nozzle, a nut mounted thereon, a housing adapted to be clamped to the exterior of the conduit wall over and around the nut and nozzle but open at the sides to permit access to the nut, and a mounting for the nozzle which prevents its rotation but permits endwise sliding thereof.

5. In an apparatus for feeding regulated quantities of finely divided material, thecombination of a vertically arranged conduit, means for dropping a continuous.

stream of finely divided material through said conduit, an air inlet pipe projecting through one side wall of the conduit, an outlet ipe projecting through the opposite wall 0% the conduit, means for varymgthe distance between the ends of said pipes, and apparatus independent of the airplpes for removing any finely divided material which may fall below the level of the air pipes, said means for varying the distance between the ends of the two pipes comprising an externally threaded section on the above men-' tioned adjustable nozzle, a nut mounted thereon, and a housing, adapted to be clamped to the exterior of the conduit wall over and around the nut and nozzle but open, at the sides to permit access to the nut, thenozzle having a longitudinally extending groove in its external surface, and the housing being provided with a set screw engagingsaid groove.-

6. In an apparatus for feeding regulated quantities of finely divided, material the combination of a vertically arranged conduit, means for dropping a continuous stream of finely divided material through said conduit, an air inlet pipe projecting through one side wall of the conduit, an outlet pipe proj ecting through the opposite wall of the conduit, means for varying the distance between the ends of said pipes, and apparatus independent of the air pipes forremoving any finely divided material which may fall below the level of the air pipes.

7. In an apparatus for feeding regulated quantities of finely divided material, the combination of a vertically arranged conduit, means for dropping a continuous. stream of finely divided material through said conduit, antgair inlet pipe projecting through one side wall of the conduit, an outlet pipe projecting through the opposite Wall of the conduit, means for varying the distance between the ends of said pipes, and apparatus independent of the air pipes for removing any finely divided material which may fall below the level of the air pipes, said means for varying the distance between the ends of thetwo pipe sections comprising a nut threaded on to the exterior of the adj ustable nozzle, devices for preventing the rotation of the nozzle but permitting endwise movement thereof and a housing clamped to the wall and extending around the nut, open at the side to permit a spanner to engage the threaded pipe end maybe screwed.

WIRT s. oUIoLnY.

. Witnesses:

A. PARKER-SMITH, M. G. CRAWFORD. 

